KUALA LUMPUR, 27 Feb 2009: To propagate a culture of peace, there is a need to uphold the rule of law and respect institutions established through and in accordance with the law, said Raja Dr Nazrin Shah.

The Raja Muda Perak said the law governed our interactions with one another and with the state.

“A lawless system breeds a lawless culture, which in turn, suggests lawless governance and lawless governments.

“The law is a fundamental building block of any nation. In Malaysia, primacy of the law is upheld as one of the pillars in the Rukun Negara, just as it is held as paramount by most progressive countries,” he said in his speech titled “Youth for World Peace” at the International Conference of Youth on Terrorism here today.

Raja Nazrin said the peaceful and harmonious co-existence among the people of a nation and the world could not prevail under a state of lawlessness.

Thus, he said, this should be the ninth essential area needed in propagating a culture of peace, besides the other eight action areas of the internationally-agreed framework that was in place, which provided an agenda for all youth to work towards.

“The youth of the world may or may not be in a position to influence these outcomes directly, but they do have the ability to participate, via their educational institutions and through civil society organisations.

“Their ability to affect outcomes through conscientiousness can bring about significant changes, not only as youth but also as they proceed into adulthood,” Raja Nazrin said.

He said it was easy to be pessimistic about the possibility of a world free from war and terrorism.

However, he added, the renewed impetus that many national and international bodies were giving to this problem was heartening.

“No headway can be made against political or sectarian extremism, unless a committed stance for peace and against violence is declared.

“Young people have the ability to contribute in this regard, by rejecting any and every link with people and organisations promoting violence. The effort to end the indiscriminate taking of lives may not be easy but it could occur within one generation if the youth of today are firm in their conviction,” he said.

Raja Nazrin also said the true challenge was for government and policymakers to give the young a role and a stake in the process of nation-building and the creation of a just international order.

“This is the challenge that the young, who will inherit the world, throws to the old. The latter must consider this seriously, if they wish to fully discharge their responsibilities in passing on a better world to the former,” he added. — Bernama

4 Responses to “Lawless system breeds lawless culture: Raja Nazrin”

Raja Nazrin always sounds like a terribly sensible chap. I wonder if part of giving the young “a role … in the process of nation-building” might be lowering the voting age? Almost the entire world votes at 18, and there are efforts to push voting age down to 16 in countries that haven’t already done so. Why doesn’t Malaysia allow the under-21s to participate?

Indeed, wise words from the Raja Muda of Perak, which takes me back to my frequent conversations with my Westerner friends.

I told them despite the fact that Malaysia did not like to be colonised by the British, we do recognise the “best gift” the British gave Malaysia was the “rule of law” (Westminster governance). But unfortunately, I think throughout the years, the structure which holds the essence of the “rule of law” is breaking down. Our culture of secrecy, arrogance and corruption led to the breeding of discontent in many forms – distrust, suspicion, hatred etc. When rules are not made clear and bent to the whims and fancies of the powerful few, the “rule of law” will seen as a joke. And sadly, when that happens, no one will look to the “rule of law” for justice. Then we will turn to other undesirable means to achieve our goals. This is what is happening in Malaysia!